Stabling and Grazing

At the south end of a sleepy West Sussex village, if you take the right fork in the road by the farm and keep driving until you have passed through two metal gates, you will find The Secret Campsite.

You wouldn’t know you were at the campsite if you found it by accident. There are no toilets or showers, no hook-ups or check-in office. ‘Facilities’ are one rusty tap next to the sheep dip, and calls of nature can be taken in private behind a log pile in one corner. The thought of no shower alarms me slightly, and I know I will pee on my shoes.

On this hot August Friday evening we are one of three groups in the field. Our neighbours are too far away to identify, their tents just peeking out from the woods at the top of the hill. We take the site between two trees, walking distance from tap and logs with established bare patch of earth for building a fire. The farmer drives around after nightfall and collects £2 per person.

The girls are on fire wood duty and the boys are left to assemble tents. Having been here several times before, Karen has perfected her fire lighting technique and we soon have an impressive blaze going. I chop vegetables for the pasta and we find a nook in the burning logs to balance the saucepans.

Several bottles of wine later, we sing songs accompanied by Shaun’s guitar and fight over desert – a bag of éclairs. I have no idea what time we go to bed. The last memory is of staring at the stars and explaining what the Milky Way is to anyone who’d listen.

What seems like a blink of an eye later, its morning, and roasting hot in the tent. Karen puts up the hammock and we laze in the sunshine. The boys go off to hit a golf ball around the other field and I fall asleep. The locals are racing rally cars around the next field which is not actually as horrendous as you’d think. Even the roar of engines seems to be hypnotic here. It is an idyllic location and once I get over myself about being clean, I relax and don’t want to leave.

Although we call it The Secret Campsite, Karen says its not really secret. In fact her sister found it on the Internet. She calls it secret because two friends knew about it and took her here once but told her not to tell everyone otherwise it’d be spoilt. I check the Web when I get home. Under ‘Other Facilities’ is listed Stabling and Grazing, which I think describes our weekend rather well.

Essential Info

Location: UK.

Cost: STG £2 a night per person.